The Silent Rotation of the Stars
by sparklyliontamer
Summary: Thirty years after the victory of Breaking Dawn, Bella and Edward, broken by the disappearance of their daughter, follow a weak lead to the small apartment of a stranger where they hope to be reunited with their missing Renesmee. However, twenty years of tragedy have changed their beloved daughter into something more than frightening and yet, less than even half human.
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer - **Is this really necessary? Well, whatever. I own EVERYTHING! Except Twilight... Thank God. I couldn't handle the politics.

Chapter One

"Sperm whales have the largest brain in the animal kingdom weighing in at an average of twelve and a half pounds."

How nervous he must be to think of biology facts at a time like this. But, then again, what was he supposed to be thinking about? Out of good manners, he probably should be trying to make small talk with the strange couple across the room, yet there was nothing to say really and they probably didn't feel like talking either. The tension was enough.

What do you say in a situation like this, anyway?

A man and a woman sat very still on the only couch in the small, one bedroom apartment. Inhuman to say the least, they also looked very young, almost like children. Neither of them could have been older than twenty. So how is it that they are here to reclaim a girl who physically is at least their age if not older, who they insist is their daughter? The young woman was short and petite like a song bird. Her hair, long and dark served as a fine contrast to her milky skin. The combination of those features set her golden eyes ablaze which were further intensified by the fear and anticipation of the circumstances. Her accompanying fellow was just as thin, but much taller. Their skin and eyes matched perfectly in color, but his hair was closer to that of his eyes, a golden shade with the flush of red.

They were both monsters. Try as he might; he couldn't help but to stare at them as such. They were trying to take something so precious away from him; but was he not also a culprit of the same? If the object of particular affection was their daughter, than he was just as guilty in wanting to keep her. How must he appear to these two strangers? Were they not thinking the same of him, a monster or maybe just a misunderstanding?

He was strange himself, this young man in the face of two demons. Maybe he was no more a human than they. He was young at the age of twenty-seven though he often told others he was thirty-two. His hair was a dark black and refused to cooperate in any affair. It stuck out every day of the week, but the direction it favored seemed to match the preferred hemisphere of his brain. Most days it was the left unless he was depressed. It's comical how creative we become when we're depressed. Even more comical when only our hair will humor us.

His skin was a natural tone, neither pale nor tanned. His features could be described in no other way than a perfect poker face. The flat brown eyes were always glazed over and dulled further by the crumpled angles of his face. The young man could be considered handsome in a very bizarre sort of way. Standing at six feet and three inches with an ox-like physique of broad shoulders and a sturdy back, he was nothing if not intimidating to most. His brain matched his body in strength and brilliance buying him an easy PhD in biochemistry. It was a pretty standard major for a doctor, but he was a pretty standard kind of guy. How can you learn about everything if you're always specifically focused in one area? He wasn't even a real doctor at that. He'd passed the necessary classes for a PhD, but never fulfilled any of the experience requirements to actually practice. The man made his money conducting independent research and selling papers to floundering scientists who had them published under their names. Not too focused or traditionally moral, but a very brilliant man to say the least, who went by the name of Jack. Maybe he wasn't a monster after all, at least not one you could recognize from appearances.

You could certainly tell these two strangers apart by appearances. They were frightening in their perfection and burning eyes. For a creature with fresh blood pumping through their veins, the presence of these creatures was that of being in the presence of a predator. In Jacks case, this wasn't so much a truth. He was a construct of flesh and blood, but that flesh and blood now barely stood at the threshold of human. Really no word was appropriate for what Jack had been made into. Perhaps "genetically modified" came close. But we'll talk about that later. Someone very important is about to make an appearance.

"My makeup is flaking." She thought to herself as she hurried through the deserted streets. Hadenport was a deserted type of town. Once the textile factories went out of business, the friendly little town took an economical dive and never recovered. It remained forgotten on the edge of eastern Virginia overlooking the sea while waiting for a ship that never set sail. People rarely bothered to stop as they passed through and rarely passed through unless they had the misfortune of getting lost. But the folks of Hadenport almost preferred it that way. The natives had a certain tie to the forgotten little town. Anyone who didn't want to give it a try was welcome to leave and never missed.

One could walk the whole of Hadenport in one day. There were no big shops or restaurant chains, but it still had its modest charms. Most of the town was run by the grandparents who were only interested in antiques and pondering the weather. You could find an antique shop on every block and right in the middle of the town was Mama Maureen's Diner which served up the best ice cream sundaes you ever had. The town was as inconspicuous as they come, the perfect hiding place if you were on the run. Maybe that's why it's the home to such peculiar characters.

So she hurried through the deserted streets of Hadenport with her makeup flaking. Her over-sized clothes flapped about and the hood drawn around her face kept blowing back until she clasped it in place with her a firm hand. The seemingly young woman clutched a magazine to her person as she tried to control the urge to break into a full run, already moving at an inhumane pace. Finally reaching the apartment complex, she, somehow of no particular age, burst through the doors and loped up the stairs until she reached apartment 46A. Her hand stretched out immediately for the knob and halted before it turned. A strange scent wafted through the cracks in the door and the walls while a sagging sentiment hung over the doorway. Her mind fantasized of murder scenes for a moment and then boldly pushed through the omen.

Inside of the doorway was his familiar shape, back turned towards her and familiar hair as uncooperative as ever. The tension of the strange scent melted a little with his clear health. Her past was not so far behind and continued to haunt the attempts at normalcy she was trying to create. The brilliant man and this ageless girl were all too aware of each others mortality. She quickly walked up to the back of his chair while he turned to face her. Jack stared up into her face, still brilliant behind the mask of melting makeup. She looked down at him with a cold, expressionless visage of love.

"I picked up the new copy." Her face never changed. "Your article is on page twenty-six. They didn't change a thing." She handed him the journal and looked across the room at source of the smell. Two strangers staring at her with wide eyes, one wore a face of mixed pain and relief. There was an eagerness about them. Uncomfortably, she made a note of her face mirrored in both of theirs. It was unmistakable; she was their daughter.


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer - **Is this really necessary? Well, whatever. I own EVERYTHING! Except Twilight... Thank God. I couldn't handle the politics.

Chapter Two

Denial is a comical thing which did not take place at this point in time. Three sets of eyes stared at this her as she stared back through a mask, hiding the defiance.

An observant eye can be terribly dangerous, especially when paired with a mind for useless facts. This kind of powerful combination can find out all the worlds secrets and then some of gods. The two in front of her were no secret. They were not trying to hide from her, but she wanted to hide from them. Of course, that didn't make any sense. Two, long lost parents reuniting with their beloved daughter after years of tragedy and confusion, it should be a godsend on both sides. Unfortunately, tragedy changes us in unpredictable, sometimes unimaginable ways. Appearances deceived the two stone strangers, who had ached for this moment longer than any parent should have to, but appearances are so worthless in the reality of tragedy. Though the beautiful woman who mirrored the love they had lost, tragedy had changed her physically and taken away most of what made her their daughter. In truth, there was nothing left of their bond.

He watched the family exchanging stares with an unseen shift of relief that knew no guilt. He knew she would not except them, would not want them and would continue on with him as it should be, as it seemed it had always been. Wrong as he knew it was, she was his now and not theirs. So he sat there in a false sense of security, perfectly physically still while his soul sank into the gracious joy of victory. And for how great the intelligence was that his mind could hold, it could not keep him from the prying gift of one intruder. His thoughts were taunting songs for the bronze haired boy sitting only a few feet away from him. Though the intruder's eyes did not stray from his daughters face, his heart was ripped from the anticipation of a reunited love to the depths of despair in light of the truth his host so shamelessly celebrated in the false safety of his mind. His daughter was not his, but belonged to this outside mortal who pirated his intelligence for meager livings. Certainly no father would ever imagine this for his daughter.

As for she, who was the object of the silent psychic musings, she stood behind the old wooden chair which held the dark haired man; her hand lay lightly on his shoulder to direct her thoughts into his. Unaware of the supernatural abilities of the two strangers, the woman directed the seated man to continue through with the unnecessary formalities.

"Annie," The man paused, but his eyes never left the strangers. The erroneous name the man attached to her daughter made the dark haired woman shift uncomfortably on the couch. The move was purely psychological as her stone physic would never call for such. "I want you to meet Edward and Isabella Cullen." Another pause. "Edward, Isabella,"

"Bella." The dark haired companion eagerly corrected him, although Bella was not really the name by which she wished to be addressed.  
"Bella…" The man in the chair spoke slowly and placed his hand over Annie's in a manner that was protective and too possessive for the taste of the strangers. "This is Annie."

Formalities were obviously the wrong way to go. Annie quickly became impatient with the introductions as she was sure everyone in the room knew who these strangers were. Her anger with the situation grew to an unfair amount and she tried to swallow the shouts the beat around her throat. The complicated emotion of anger leads to unwarranted assumptions and if there is anything a life of betrayal can teach you, it is to never assume. So against the hateful accusations which seeped through the nerves of her graceful lips, she did her best to melt the ice in her voice before she began her interrogation of the ignorant fools before her, dear old mom and dad.

"Why are you here?" Her success was only in the kindness of her tone, but it was otherwise robbed of innocence. They knew that she knew who they were, but what did they expect her to do? Was she to rush into their arms and sob through a tearful reunion? Her recognition was only in physical appearances. She had no memory of them. Of course they played along anyway. Worriedly looking at one another and then back to her before the boy beside the dark-haired beauty spoke. His voice did not match his appearance; instead of the hesitant piddle of youth, he spoke with a sure command. It was odd to hear such a tone from one she knew could so easily snap in half under her might, even with his promised immortality. It was especially bizarre as he was about to claim her as his daughter. And even though the boy knew these contemplations which ran across the synapses of Annie's mind, he still kept with the formalities as she had done. Might as well. His daughter was not the same as she was when he had lost her so many years ago.  
"We are looking for someone and we came here on a very weak lead, really no more than the hunch of a friend." Edward ran through his sister's vision before he continued. The dark haired man sitting next to Emmet on the sofa in the large living room of the Cullen house, an elegant woman enters from the kitchen moments later to join them. She is the very picture of Edward's daughter, fully aged and now frozen in time with the rest of her kin. The vision seemed too good to be true. It had stirred the hurting family from the restless sleep of misery with a small glimmer of hope. And although they all knew the letdown of another fruitless search would be unbearable, anything was worth a shot. They couldn't just let their loved one go missing forever.

"We lost our daughter twenty years ago." Edward locked eyes with Annie. His hopeful expression wore down on her anger. The delight in the eyes of the strangers was too tangible as they knew they had unmistakably found their daughter.

"We've come looking for her."

"And you think it's me."

The confusion of amnesia is often further complicated by the irrational nature of anger. Annie wasn't angry at these two desperate beings. She didn't hate them; she hated the situation. You must understand, for one who spends all of their time trying to keep from being found by the enemy, it can be even more unnerving to be found by those who want to love you. How do you respond to love when you only prepare for disaster? She did not want their love. She had no memory of it. They wanted to bring her home with them and force her back into a normalcy that could no longer be achieved. She was not their daughter. She was a rogue government experiment, a darkness forced upon the world and trying to recede into the cracks of life so that the evil could end.

Bella sifted through the small purse that sat beside her and pulled out a slip of paper, handing it to Annie who took it with guarded curiosity. She stared down at the small photograph, a man and woman beaming beside a young, seemingly adolescent girl. The brilliant flow of curls with the sculpted features were defining clues, but only the eyes could prove Annie's relation to the girl in the picture. The rich swirling earth in her eyes was set ablaze by the sun and melted into a golden rainbow. For how common brown eyes were on the planet, no one could ever match her exact color. Annie's voice never lost the emotionless tone, but was lightened by a tiny song of wonder.

"What was my name?"

The strangers burning desire to speak the lost name came out in resounding synchronization.

"Renesmee."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three

The key to imperceptibility is to master the combination between unbearably dull and pleasantly clean. Rolling along in his tasteless 87 Lincoln Continental, it would seem that Jack had mastered this combination all too well. While the ride was not terribly smooth, the car remained in great shape thanks to his constant care.

He glanced over at her in the passenger seat; her hand tightly clasped around her locket. It was the only thing of hers that was found. Unfortunately the picture it held was removed and the locket was to be sold as scrap. Jack had snatched it and put something far more important inside before he gave it to her. He never bothered to tell her of its true origin. She simply believed that it had been a present from him. Maybe keeping her in the dark about so many things was more harmful than protective. She was certainly strong enough to take care of herself. Jack pushed his foot down on the gas. At least now he was doing the right thing.

Annie looked over at him and eyed him with a curious accusation.

"Why are you so eager to get there?"

He couldn't help but smile. The mind is already a paranoid wasteland of self-absorption and the years spent in government containment had turned them both completely cynical. There was no room for trust, not even in each other.

"I guess I'm just eager to see your new home."

She sighed and rested her arms out the open window letting the fingers of her right hand trail in the wind.

"You're just eager to get rid of me." Her voice held more boredom than pain, more fear than anything.

"Can you blame me?"

"No, I can't."

A silent exchange or reminiscent thoughts passed between the two. The mere presence of the other was a painful reminder of all that had been lost. Much like how a widow sees her lost love in the face of her son, they saw ghosts in each other. Their strange, beautiful faces would morph into the gruesome snarls of the guards, the inhuman masks of the scientists. While they remained together, they would never escape their captors.

He was abandoning her. He was choosing his sanity and safety over her friendship. At least he was trying to leave her somewhere he thought she would be safe. She knew that as soon as he dropped her off, he would rush straight back to their apartment, gather his things, and leave forever. Of course, it wasn't their apartment anymore. There was no sense of depression, no pain of abandonment. There is only the instinct for survival. Anything human that pulsed in their veins had been taken away and replaced with animalistic understanding. It made sense that he was doing what was best for him. She would do the same thing. They were more vulnerable in groups. If they stayed together, it raised the chances of being caught and returning to the nightmare. In all honesty, it was a miraculous error of judgment that they had remained together for so long. Sometimes the pain of tragedy can be more binding than the love of a friendship.

The old car rattled down the winding dirt road and up to an extravagant, old Victorian manor. Their emotionless eyes gazed up at the sparkling white paint and the high towers.  
"I'll bet it's haunted," she said with as much humor as she could muster and turned to face him. The expression on his face stopped the air in her throat. His eyes burned into hers, searching with a most human quality that she had never seen from him. It seemed as if he were feeling emotion. His hand reached toward her and she leaned away from it, but he gently cradled her face in his wide warm hand. His expression melted from the intensity into a sick, desperate sorrow.

"I love you." The words were soft and slow, spoken with an earnest tone that tried to undo the evil which had settled in their cells. The words were spoken as they had never been spoken, especially to her. He was inhuman. No human could ever speak with such selfless sincerity. Her confusion and inability to comprehend his sudden change in behavior was too frightening. He was breaking all of the rules.

"What are you talking about?"

She reached the door handle behind her and nearly broke the door with desire to escape the perplexing position. Annie pulled her tiny suitcase from the trunk and raced to the front door of the manor while Jack remained seated in the car. He finally had gone mad and maybe she was next.

An irritating tingle slid down her face and caught the corner of her mouth. Annie clawed at her face to end the irritation that was only stressing the already taxing circumstances. She pulled her hand away in shock at the discovery of moisture on her face.

Was she crying?


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four

Annie touched her hand to the bottom of her eyelid where the moisture was leaking. She was momentarily caught in a strange daze when the front door to the large manor opened to reveal the bright face of a young man. He was foreign to her as she had expected to be greeted by the couple who had shown up at the apartment. At this time, Jack took a mind to get out of the car and he was on his way to stand by her side. She looked back at his approach, now unsure of him. He looked at her to reveal that his expression had diminished to the same emotionless slate. His eyes were glazed over once again and the polite whisper of a hesitant smile was back where it should be. Annie warned his approach with hard stance, but Jack ignored her and made his way to the door to greet the stranger.

"Good evening sir, I've brought the package you requested."

The stranger smiled at the attempted humor and shook Jacks hand.

"It's kind of you to do this for us. We are forever in your dept. Please, come in. My name is Carlisle. Welcome." Carlisle stepped aside and let them pass. Jack entered first and Annie followed in behind holding her suitcase in such a manner that she seemed to be regarding it as a weapon.

Jack made a note of Carlisle. He was certainly inhuman and it followed that he would be strong, but he was also seemingly passive and unthreatening. Carlisle led them through the large foyer which bled into an open living room. A few pieces of furniture were scattered about. Large paintings covered the walls and a lonely grand piano sat in an unnoticed corner. There was nothing terribly homely about the place. Perhaps this supposed family didn't have enough love to fill the beautiful structure. Jack was starting to reconsider his already irresolute decision. He glanced back at Annie who was eyeing the piano. Her hands clutched around her suitcase. Funny. He couldn't remember her ever owning anything worth packing beyond a few items of clothing, most of which she was wearing.

They seemed to silently seep from the walls. Like the false imaginings of demons, first they were only glowing eyes, watching the three as the stood in the vulnerable opening of the great room. Annie didn't like the way they moved. They were slow and fluent. She knew they were doing their best not to startle her which made her more nervous. Annie recoiled a bit behind Jack and looked up at him. His stature was calm and undisturbed as if falling into a pit of snakes was no cause for concern. Of course, he wasn't the target. Their glowing eyes were focused on her; mystified in anxious stares of wonder. Annie took another step back with half a mind to run for the door. Walking into this manor was just like walking back into the prison. She did not want to be observed. That's where they start, you know. First they just want to observe you. Then they want to talk to you. Then they want you to take strange pills. Before you know it, you're chained to a table being injected with foul smelling serums. Annie turned to run when jack caught her arm and pulled her front and center. He held her there for the boring eyes to find her and to crush her with their curiosity.

Jack heard her heart rate increase and could see the faint beginnings of perspiration. Annie was going to panic. He put his hands on her shoulders, faintly aware that after his stunt in the car he would no longer be a source of comfort for her. She looked back at him, her eyes ablaze with threat. He tried to offer her one of his slow smiles, but she would not take the gesture. And then, the woman who had come to the apartment appeared and stood out from the others. Her face was smooth while her illuminated eyes were ruptured with longing. She slowly approached them one step at a time, her hand outstretched towards Annie. Jack called to her in warning.

"Give us a moment."

The words did not slow her. She was so fixated on Annie that the warning moved right over her and was not perceived by her senses. Her mate stood behind her and also called out to her.

"Bella, wait a moment."

Still she persisted. She was so close to them, only two feet away with both hands stretched out that she then placed on Annie's face. The motion was so gentle, so loving that Jack momentarily thought nothing of it. But Annie's heart staggered to a halt and then took off in a thundering roar of panic. Her hands that were clasped around the small suitcase crushed the stressed plastic into nothing. Out of her mouth came shattering snarls as her teeth and hands ripped from her human form and sent a crippling ripple through her body, changing her into the predatory product of so many horrible experiments.

Jack tried to hold on to her, but she threw him and he crashed against the far wall behind her. Carlisle had gone to join the others in a defensive stance against the new creature he had so openly welcomed into his elegant home.

Her skin had turned a strange ashen brown and two glowing gaps stared out from her face. Her mouth was twisted in an unnatural grimace of crooked teeth. Her back cracked and contracted until two brilliant, leathery wings emerged from the flesh and began violently battering about, hurtling winds around the room which disturbed the paintings on the walls.

The thing was no longer Annie, no longer the beautiful girl who was supposed to be the main event in the happy reunion. Some kind of horrific beast had enveloped her and taken her place. Its terrible, soulless eyes turned to find Jack and it lunged for him. Jack leapt up to meet it and they collided in the air. He managed to wrestle the thing to the ground and wrap his long arms around it to contain the beast. Fortunately, as strong as it was, the thing was unused to its form. It seemed to have no sense of proper movement so it screamed and jerked in his grip. Jack reached around the neck of the terrible beast. Though the clothes had been mangled, luckily the locket had managed to remain in place. For what seemed to be long minutes, he fumbled with the locket in attempts to open it. He couldn't hold the beast and open the locket at the same time. The beast was beginning to break free. Two cold hands pushed Jacks away from the locket and managed to open it, pushing the face hard into the skin of the beast where an electric current waved through it and into Jack shocking them both apart.

Jack lay on the floor, his body tingling and his vision blurring. He looked over to where the beast had landed. Slowly the wretched monster melted away to reveal the beauty that was within. Just as the transformation was completed, Jacks vision faded to black.


End file.
